People on the Move
Development/Construction
Tom Lassu and Ron Stevenson have been promoted to president, Ledcor Industries Inc., and president, Ledcor Group of Companies, respectively. Lassu had previously been president, Ledcor Constructors and, earlier, president, Ledcor Contractors. He is based in Edmonton. Stevenson has been with Ledcor for 46 years, and started working in the field. He steadily progressed through a variety of management positions, such as foreman, superintendent, vice-president and president. Most recently, Stevenson was president and CEO at Ledcor Industries Inc., the largest subsidiary of the Ledcor Group of Companies. He is based in Vancouver.
Finance
Chris Catliff, president and CEO of BlueShore Financial, has been awarded the Human Resources Management Association’s Keeping People First: CEO Award. The award recognizes outstanding leadership in people practices and support of innovative HR.
Legal
Katie Blundy has joined McCullough O’Connor Irwin LLP as an associate. Blundy will be practicing corporate and securities law.
Kevin Foster has joined Terra Law Corp. as an associate lawyer after articling and practicing in the Vancouver commercial real estate group of a national law firm. He has experience in a wide assortment of real estate and general corporate-commercial matters including financings, acquisitions and sales, development, leasing and property taxation.
Media
Rob McLaughlin, responsible for many of the National Film Board of Canada’s (NFB) pioneering interactive documentary projects, is back at the NFB as executive producer of the digital studio in Vancouver as of May 16. From 2008-2011, McLaughlin was responsible for the production of several Webby Award-winning interactive works. McLaughlin returns to the NFB after five years as a regional vice-president of editorial for Postmedia Network Inc.’s newspapers in Western Canada.
Non-Profit
Keith Beckett, chief scientist at UrtheCast, the space-based, remote sensing company, has joined Resource Works as a member of its advisory council. Resource Works is a non-profit, non-partisan research-driven group dedicated to improving the state of public discourse on natural-resource topics relevant to British Columbia.
The West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce recently hosted its annual President’s Dinner & Excellence Awards at the Hollyburn Country Club. More than 130 guests attended the celebration of business excellence in the West Vancouver and Bowen Island communities. Awards were presented to Harry Greenwood (Citizen of the Year); Peter King, Bowen Island Community Transit Ltd. (Business Person of the Year); Pavan Avinashi, Hollyburn Eye Clinic (Young Entrepreneur); Fisherman’s Market (Best New Business); Positively Fit (Best Small Business); Gleneagles Clubhouse & Appleback Grill (Best Medium Business); and British Pacific Properties (Best Big Business).
Resources
Geoff Chater has been appointed a director at Alianza Minerals Ltd. Chater is currently principal at Namron Advisors, a capital markets consultancy he founded in 1998, and has more than 29 years of experience in the mineral and mining industries operating in North America, South America, Europe and Africa. Chater is currently a director of Reservoir Minerals Inc. and Lara Exploration Ltd.
David S. Deak has been appointed chief technical officer and senior vice-president at Lithium Americas Corp., and president of its subsidiary, Lithium Nevada Corp. Deak has diverse experience, predominantly in technology development and commercial roles. Most recently, he led strategic development projects focused on battery manufacturing and supply chain activities, including lithium supply.
Zadar Ventures Ltd. has engaged RB Milestone Group LLC as a corporate consultant, and has also appointed Jason Dussault to its advisory board. Dussault is the founder of Pure Energy and served as the company’s first CEO.
Transportation
Lisa Dooling has joined Neptune Bulk Terminals (Canada) Ltd. as director of community and stakeholder engagement. Dooling has previously worked with Lift Philanthropy Partners, the Industry Training Authority and several Vancouver communications agencies including Cossette, in addition to running her own communications consultancy.
Hats Off
Business in Vancouver welcomes submissions from local small businesses and large corporations alike that demonstrate examples of corporate philanthropy and community involvement in the Vancouver area. High-resolution images are also welcome.
Employees from TransLink, B.C. Rapid Transit Co., Coast Mountain Bus Co., Transit Police, MoveUP (COPE local 378), CUPE 4500, CUPE 7000, Unifor 111 and Unifor 2200 contributed their time and donated $276,751 in 2015 to support United Way of the Lower Mainland’s programs and services.
Vancity donated $30,000 to MOSAIC. The funds will be directed to MOSAIC’s micro-loans program, which gives small loans of $500 to $7,500 to immigrants who are upgrading their education or skills, who need to purchase equipment or tools to enter a trade or profession, or who have business experience and want to start their own business in Canada.
Scotiabank recently donated $40,000 to the MS Society of Canada. Scotiabank has been a long-time supporter of the MS Society in British Columbia-Yukon and is the title sponsor of two fundraising events, the MS Walk and MS Bike.
Kiwanis Club of Vancouver donated $3,000 to the Down Syndrome Research Foundation. The funds will go directly to the foundation’s summer school program for students with Down syndrome.
Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland’s fundraising event, GrapeJuice, raised $94,000 for the organization. The event, held at the Aston Martin Vancouver and Bentley Vancouver dealership, had 200 attendees who enjoyed a host bar and hors d’oeuvres, wine tasting stations and bid on unique and exclusive wines. Since its inception nine years ago, GrapeJuice has raised more than $600,000 for Big Sister mentoring programs. It costs $2,000 to make and support one Big and Little Sister match for one year. •
